Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Douro vineyards are terraced, giving the valley an unusually dramatic look. Building
and maintaining these terraces
(geios)
is expensive, and grapes planted there must be cul-
tivated by hand. More recently, some of the bigger companies have attempted different
methods: using bulldozers to create larger terraces (called
patamares
) that can be worked
by machines; or smoothing out the hillside and planting the vines in vertical rows. (Purists
don't like these new methods, which also have their disadvantages—including fewer
plants per parcel.) Within the demarcated region, farmers are not allowed to irrigate, ex-
cept with special permission.
Because the crops here are worked mostly by hand, it can be hard to find good workers
(especially for pruning, a delicate task requiring certain skills). Most young people from
the Douro move to the cities on the coast. To encourage them to stay, the government of-
fers subsidies and other incentives.
To make the finest port, many
quintas
along the Douro still stomp grapes by foot—not
because of quaint tradition, but because it's the best way. Machines would break the
grapes' seeds and stems, releasing a bitter flavor—but soft soles don't. During harvest
time (late Sept-early Oct), the grapes are poured into big granite tubs called
lagares.
A
